Angelo Kerman

The Flapjack was originally a proof-of-concept craft that I created to determine if modular, saucer-shaped craft could be built and flown in KSP 1. While the Mk2-S is a project that I'm using to learn Blender, it could potentially turn into a new saucer part set. If so, then the Mk2-S would essentially be a Restock version of the Flapjack. The Mk2-S would have the same stats as the Flapjack, but employ a new shape that lets it integrate with Mk2 parts and leverage the art experience that I gained since making the original. I don't plan on making adapters to go between the Mk2-S and the Flapjack (it was made in a 3D program that I no longer have the license for). I also don't see the Mk2-S artwork as a drop-in replacement for the Flapjack since the Mk2-S is slightly larger. If the Mk2-S ends up as a new part set, I could either retire the original Flapjack parts or let the Flapjack and the Mk2-S work side by side.

More doodling/learning. Below are some cross-sections. I learned how to use the measuring tool today. Top: Mk2-S (tentative name) cross-section, 8.75m-diameter saucer. Middle: Typical B2 IVA cross-section. Bottom: Mk2-S cross-section, 7.5m-diameter saucer. I think the 7.5m saucer would have enough floor space for IVAs. Here is another doodle, this one prototyping how the gravitic engine would look on a 7.5m-diameter saucer: The rotating section would have more glowing bits on it. I'm using a higher-resolution for this Mk2-S, potentially something like what you'd see in KSP 2, but perhaps a lower-resolution version of the gravitic engine would be possible for KSP 1.

Since the license on my previous 3D program ran out at the end of last year, I've been on a 3D modeling break for a few months, but I've had the goal of learning Blender this year. Last couple of days I took the first few steps in that direction. This is just me noodling around, but I thought it might be worth a look. This is based on the Mk2 form factor. While not as sleek as the existing craft, it does give more options for combining parts.

Personally, I still think that KSP 2 has a lot of potential, but it also has a long way to go. I remain cautiously optimistic.

This is a great reporting tool. By chance does it produce a boilerplate text (e.g. system information) for the start of a forum post? That might be helpful for users who post bugs on the forums. Then it would be a matter of opening the boilerplate output and cutting and pasting.

Oh no worries, this is all a few months down the road. The KSP 2 roadmap won't have resource extraction for a long time, for instance, and there's no telling when official mod support will be available.

One of the things that I want to address in KSP 2 is the common origins of graviolium. In a nutshell, have a small suite of mods under the Blueshift banner for gravitic tech, FTL tech, and saucer tech. They'd all have a common core, so you can mix and match as desired.

Kerbal Flying Saucers 1.1.0 is now available: - Gravitic engines will no longer accelerate a vessel past 99.99% of light speed. - Added "Boost Mode" to WBIGraviticEngine. Boost Mode is only available when a vessel is orbiting, sub-orbital, or on an escape trajectory. When enabled, Boost Mode increases acceleration- and fuel consumption- by a factor specified by the boostModeModifier. The default is 10, meaning that when enabled, Boost Mode will consume 10x the propellants and also multiply max acceleration 10x.

Blueshift 1.9.5 is now available: - Added new entry for settings.cfg: interstellarResourceConsumptionModifier. This modifier reduces the resources required to power warp engines while in interstellar space. It is a percentage value between 0 and 99.999. The default value is 10. You can override this global setting by specifying this value in the WBIWarpEngine config. - WBIWarpEngine: Added new interstellarResourceConsumptionModifier that will reduce the resource consumption of all WBIModuleGeneratorFX part modules when the vessel is in interstellar space. This is a percentage value between 0 and 99.999. The default is 10, meaning that all generators will reduce their input resource consumption by 10% while keeping the output rates the same. Bottom line: This reduction will enable ships to consume less graviolium while out in interstellar space.

Offhand, what about using the ElectroPlasma resource from the WBI fusion reactors? It's essentially the plasma from a fusion reaction...

I can't stress enough how much I appreciate you putting effort into customizing Blueshift to better suit your needs and then sharing the results. The problem for me is that in the past, I've gotten stuck with maintaining a patch that I've no idea how it works with the other mod. This has happened to me on more than one occasion, and it's something that I would like to avoid. I would instead encourage you to open a GitHub account (it's really easy to do) and post your files there. Or, just find a free file host like Google Docs. If the patch isn't large, then you could post it in a forum post and leave instructions on how to copy and paste it into the game. As far as antimatter + EC = graviolium, that's a good production chain. Graviolium is just Mass Effect's eezo with the serial numbers filed off, so if you wanted to stay more true to the lore, then you could combine EC, Ore, and antimatter to produce graviolium. Effectively, you'd be simulating a star going supernova and bathing "solid matter" in radiation to produce graviolium. Technically though, the creation process is entirely up to the player since that's not something that I ever specified. For all we know, it could be dried kraken blood. Its origins might be something I'll explore with KSP 2's upcoming science system... FYI, for KSP 2, I plan to change the nature of graviolium slightly so that it appears as an element in the island of stability so it'll have significant mass. Based on the AMA from Thursday, the intent in KSP 2 is to refine raw resources that you mine into something usable, and that's something I want to explore as well. I could see graviolium ore looking something like KSP 1's magic boulder, with veins of glowing stuff that you then refine into graviolium.

I personally don't use FFT, but if it's something that you want to support, I can post a link to your repository where you have the config files.

Yup, as you do now, gravitics can be used for standard orbital maneuvers. If you want to circularize your orbit, then plot the maneuver and execute it. And like in KSP 1, your gravitics will have a lot of delta-v. With "Afterburner" mode, you'll accelerate a lot faster than the engine's rated acceleration at the cost of more graviolium. But you'll be limited to just below lightspeed. I also plan on letting gravitic engines run during KSP 2's timewarp. Essentially, with KSP 2's timewarp engine burns and optional "Afterburner" mode, the gravitics in KSP 2 become the replacement for warp engines. And with KSP 2 spreading resources around to different planets, I want to spread out where you find Graviolium as well- not just in asteroids. 10% seems reasonable, though you'll be able to adjust it manually in the settings.cfg file...

The KFS change is to reflect my approach for gravitic engines in KSP 2. The idea is that you'd use gravitics for in-system travel and jump tech for interstellar travel.

That beats traveling to some place where a star is going supernova to harvest graviolium... I think this is feasible. I'll work on it over the weekend along with a KFS update for an "afterburner" mode for the gravitic engines. It'll let you burn graviolium fast, but also let you accelerate rapidly- up to 99.99% of light speed.